we are streaming it live for you right now, and we'll have more tonight at 6:00. breaking news tonight. president trump says he'll declare a national emergency, going around congress for more money to build his border wall. another shutdown averted but a constitutional clash now erupting. tonight there's a new attorney general. william barr now officially overseeing the mueller investigation as an fbi insider, comey's former number two, makes explosive new claims about what happened in the days after comey was fired. a major reversal of fortune for amazon pulling out of its plans for a major hub in new york city. tonight the fallout in the fight that brought the mega prime deal down. a bombshell new turn in the jussie smollett saga. authorities say they found those two persons of interest seen in that surveillance video and police sources tell

nbc news both of them are affiliated with smollett's tv show. one year since parkland, a florida school hiring combat veterans patrolling campus with semiautomatic rifles. >> why a long gun? why not just a simple glock? >> it's not a sporting event, i'm not looking for a fair fight. >> the controversial move and the principal who says he'll do anything to protect his students. the jogger who fought off a mountain lion with his bare hands speaks for the about how he made it out alive. >> it was going toward my face. i threw up my hands to kind of block my face. >> tonight his incredible survival story. a billion-dollar lottery mystery, the biggest jackpot ever with one winner, but who is it? time is running out to claim the prize. this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone. welcome to our viewers in the west. breaking tonight, president trump pulling the trigger on his threat to declare a

national emergency to fund a border wall. going around congress to find money for a campaign centerpiece he so often promised mexicans, not americans, would pay for. the president pushing the emergency button as the white house also announced he will sign that bipartisan spending bill, avoiding another government shutdown. his border emergency now setting the stage for the next fight, this one may be in court. peter alexander has late details. >> reporter: tonight after days of will he, won't he drama, a decision. mitch mcconnell breaking the news. >> i've just had an opportunity to speak with president trump, and he i would say to all my colleagues has indicated he's prepared to sign the bill. he will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. >> reporter: lawmakers waited anxiously for hours. >> let's all pray the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so government doesn't shut down. >> reporter: the president's moves avoids a government shutdown but ignites a constitutional clash. by invoking a national emergencsing presidential power to bypass congress to try to get money to build

his wall. democrats making their own declaration, calling it an abuse of power. >> the president's doing an end run around congress, about the power of the purse -- >> reporter: for weeks many republicans advised the president not to take this path, warning it's a dangerous precedent and constitutionally questionable. >> i don't think it's a good idea. i think it would be a terrible idea, i hope he doesn't do it. >> reporter: mcconnell, who's long opposed an emergency declaration, is tonight relenting. >> i'm going to support the national emergency declaration. >> reporter: the white house framing it as a campaign promise kept but the president's base unconvinced. ann coulter tweeting, national emergency won't help, it's over if he signs this bill. a bill that guarantees the president less money and fewer miles of new barrier than the deal first presented to him last summer. before months of campaigning and a 35-day shutdown. now his promised wall could crumble in court. >> president trump may think he's doing this for one day's headlines or to please his base. but it's something

he's going to live with the rest of his term. >> reporter: and here tonight, press secretary sarah sanders says the white house is prepared for possible legal challenges. but the president's aides haven't explained how they'll move money around for the national emergency. puerto rico's governor is already threatening to sue if disaster aid meant for his island is used. lester? >> peter, thank you. this is ricochetting all across washington. let's move from the white house to capitol hill where a storm of reaction is coming in with this late news. kasie hunt is working her sources there. it's not just democrats worrying about the fallout about this move from the president? >> reporter: lester, that's right. republicans were incredibly anxious all day long in the halls aboue th did get word that icanare frankly possibility of a hypothetical terrified about the president, elizabeth warren or bernie sanders, what they might do if president trump sets this precedent. nancy pelosi raised the possibility that gun violence could be declared a national emergency, which many republicans would likely be

opposed to. now mitch mcconnell, of course, was forced to back down and say he'd support it, in a real reversal. now democrats, they're weighing their options. they could force a vote that would really divide republicans and could seriously embarrass the president. lester? >> kasie hunt on capitol hill, thank you. there's more developing news as we said at the top of the broadcast. there's a new attorney general, william barr, officially sworn in today, now officially overseeing mueller. and it comes amid explosive new claims in the russia investigation. the former acting director of dealings with president trump in the days after the firing of james comey. let's get late details on all this from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the day after president trump fired fbi director james comey, the man who took over as acting fbi director, andrew mccabe, opened an investigation into whether it amounted to obstruction of justice. that's according to mccabe's new book "the threat," coming out next week. excerpts are now

appearing. he tells "60 minutes" he wanted to be sure any investigations involving the president would keep going no matter what. >> i was very concerned that i was able to put the russia case on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion, that were i removed quickly or reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace. >> reporter: mccabe says the president deliberately lies to get what he wants and could never pass a lie detector test at the fbi's training center. if he were on the box at quantico, he would break the machine, mccabe writes. he says the day before robert mueller was named special counsel, during a meeting at the justice department, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein brought up the 25th amendment, which spells out a procedure for declaring a president unfit to serve or secretly recording conversations with the president. the justice department has said any such comments were made sarcastically, not seriously.

mccabe says in his first conversation with the president after comey's firing, mr. trump brought up mccabe's wife, who ran for state senate and lost. he quotes the president as saying, that must have been really tough, to lose, to be a loser. in two tweets today president trump called mccabe, quote, a puppet for leaking james comey and a disgrace to the fbi. mccabe was fired from the fbi last year at the recommendation of senior officials who accused him of lying about discussions with a reporter. the u.s. attorney in washington is still considering whether to prosecute mccabe for that. now that william barr is attorney general, he takes on the job of overseeing the mueller investigation, which appears to be in its final phase. barr will soon receive mueller's report, and he will decide how much of it congress and the public are allowed to see. lester? >> all right, peter williams in our washington newsroom, thank you. a big announcement in the 2020 race for president. nbc news, msnbc, and telemundo will host the first

debate of the democratic primary candidates broadcast across all three networks and available online. it will take place in june over two consecutive nights because of the anticipated size of the field. stay tuned, we'll have more details ahead, including the location. a big reversal of fortune today as amazon announced it will not go forward with plans to build part of its highly sought second headquarters in new york city. facing mixed support among new yorkers and a storm of controversy over major tax breaks, the company cited opposition from local politicians and community activists as its reason for pulling out. nbc's tom costello tonight with the fallout. >> reporter: tonight the world's biggest company is saying "no thanks" to the world's financial capital. amazon had announced it would bring 25,000 jobs to part of its rginia. >> amazon has got to go! stiff opposition.ately >> reporter: opposed to the potential impact on

traffic, housing, schools, and the financial agreement amazon struck with the city and state. now, three months later, the company is pulling the plug on its new york plans. >> it shows that everyday americans still have the power to organize and fight for their communities. and they can have more say in this country than the richest man in the world. >> reporter: amazon blames politicians who will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project. among locals, both regret and relief. >> this is basically amazon picking up their toys and leaving the sandbox. >> this was a revolution for queens' economy. this could have been something outrageously awesome for us. >> reporter: amazon's canceled order means a loss of 25,000 jobs and billions of dollars in economic impact. >> i think the protesters are going to realize long-term that while they won the battle, they lost the war. >> reporter: tonight, new york mayor bill de blasio is saying, you've got to be tough to make

it here in new york. he says amazon had an opportunity but it walked away, or threw that opportunity away. meanwhile, amazon says it is not reopening its discussions about where hq2 is going to go. northern virginia and nashville are still the winners. lester? >> all right, tom costello in queens, new york, tonight, thank you. now to the stunning twist in that alleged attack on actor jussie smollett. late today police say that the two persons of interest they're questioning are affiliated with smollett's show "empire." nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: tonight chicago police say the two men in this photo who actor jussie smollett says attacked him are affiliated with his show "empire." the dramatic new twist comes after smollett said this on abc this morning.n th was released i was like, okay, we're getting somewhere. i don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them, never did. >> reporter: both men,

who had earlier been called people of interest, have been questioned by detectives but are not considered suspects. ♪ as smollett begins to make public appearances, questions are swirling over the actor's account of the alleged racist and homophobic attack, still not verified by police. the "chicago tribune" is reporting both men questioned today are black. >> he said, this maga country [ bleep ], punches me right in the face. so i punched his ass back. >> detectives say they've reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance video and have not found any evidence of the attack. investigators call smollett an alleged victim who they sti smollett told police he was on the phone with his manager during the attack. investigators say he woully hand over a photo of a heavily redacted call log. >> they wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. i'm sorry. but -- i'm not going to do that.

i have private pictures and videos and numbers. >> reporter: tonight smollett stands by his story, while police are closer to closing their case. miguel almaguer, nbc news. turning now to the emergency in california where a monster winter storm has triggered massive mudslides. dozens of homes have been evacuated. one dramatic rescue caught on camera. nbc's steve patterson has more. >> reporter: tense moments during a harrongreue. search teams digging through a home torn apart by torrents of mud, searching for someone they believe is underneath the rubble. through some of the debris. so we knew where she was, she was screaming for help. >> reporter: crews clearing piles of debris, finally pulling a woman out conscious. >> thank god for the neighbor! >> she couldn't believe she had survived the ride down the hill. >> reporter: the early morning mudslide striking this sausalito neighborhood, covering cars, damaging gas lines,

after sheets of rain pounded parts of northern california with winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour. at least 50 homes in the area were evacuated. tonight residents remain on alert with the weekend forecast calling for even more wind and rain. steve patterson, nbc news. in denver tonight, a tentative deal has been reached to end the city's massive teacher strike. thousands walked off the job three days ago, demanding better pay. under the deal the union says they'll get raises up people at marjory the mass shooting that nce then many parkland, killed 17 schools have added new safety measures. tonight our gabe aggressive approach. >> reporter: this is a combat veteran with a semiautomatic rifle patrolling florida's manatee school for the arts hoping to prevent a school shooting. why a long gun? why not just a simple glock? >> it's not a sporting event. i'm not looking for a fair fight. if anything like that ever happens, i want absolutely

overwhelming firepower, i want overwhelming odds in our favor. >> reporter: after the parkland massacre, the florida legislature required every school in the state to have at least one safe school officer to protect students from potential shooters. >> i want to make sure we've got the right tool at the right time. >> reporter: dr. bill jones is the principal here and decided that instead of school resource officers, he wanted guards with combat experience. for you it was extremely important that these employees have been shot at before? >> reporter: at least nine states now allow districts to arm teachers or other arm teachers or other staff members. some have considered expanding the use of metal detectors. just this month new jersey required all public schools install silent panic alarms. critics say these rifles go too far. >> what's most disturbing to me about having long guns

in schools is that schools are not combat zones. rifles are just not needed in that kind of environment. >> reporter: for parents, picking up their kids, it's a new reality. >> they're doing a good job, you know, because safety is first. >> i think that it could be going a bit too far. >> what message does this send to the kids? >> i think they get the point that this is a gun that's here to protect you. >> reporter: the first guard began working here last fall. a second starts later this month. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, palmetto, florida. let's turn to the fight against the flu and word from health officials that this year's vaccine is doing a pretty good job as can be expected. figures show the vaccine is 47% effective in preventing a flu that's severe enough to send you to the doctor. officials say anywhere between 40% and 60% shows the vaccine is doing a good job. and a warning for diet soda drinkers. a new study finds having two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day is linked to higher risk of stroke and heart attack for women over 50. just ahead tonight, the jogger who killed a mountain lion with his bare hands speaks out for the first time. what he says saved his life.

then lottery mystery. why the biggest jackpot ever remains unclaimed.

back now with a wild tale of survival. it's a story we've been telling you about a jogger and a confrontation with a mountain lion. with only his bare hands to protect el tonight he's speaking out for the first time about it all. here's morgan chesky. >> when i first turned around, the cat was 10 feet away from me. >> reporter: a week after travis kaufmann saved his own life, he shared the shock of his mountain lion attack in this interview with park rangers. today for the first time in public he shared the moment one of his worst fears came true. >> i ended up hearing some pine needles rustle, a stick break. it just kind of kept running and lunged at me. it was going toward my face, so i threw up my hands to kind of block my face. >> reporter: rangers say kaufmann did everything right. fighting back when it was clear the young lion wasn't scared. his only defense, using his body to pin, then suffocate the 40-pound animal. >> one of my big fears

throughout the whole thing was another cat. i was just very concerned that mom was going to come out of nowhere. at that point, that fight would be over pretty quickly. >> reporter: but kaufmann survived, killing the lion before running three miles for help. at a hospital, doctors stitched up his face, wrist, and treated wounds all over his body. >> i feel really fortunate that this situation turned out the way that it did. and i really feel like i made all the right decisions whenever i had to. >> tonight kaufmann stresses he wouldn't have even heard that mountain lion coming had he been running with music, and says next time he hits the trail he'll have a buddy join him. >> all right, thank you, morgan. could you be the lucky winner? time's running out to claim the biggest jackpot in history. everyone's got to listen to mom.

when it comes to reducing the sugar in your family's diet, coke, dr pepper and pepsi hear you. we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar smaller portion sizes, clear lorie labels and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org a billion-dollar mystery. it involves a winning lottery ticket sold in october in south carolina. the problem is no one has come

forward to claim the prize and time is running out. here's tammy leitner. >> reporter: simpsonville, south carolina, is the town that luck struck. >> that's the buzz, that's the buzz. >> reporter: or did it? >> nobody really knows what's going on. >> reporter: the ticket for the largest single lottery payout in u.s. history was sold here. but the $1.5 billion is still unclaimed. >> i'm shocked. i'd have been here the next day. >> reporter: sparking a mind-boggling mystery. >> maybe they don't even know they had the winning ete not out of jail yet, or who knows. >> reporter: financial heartbreak for this store owner, who could get $50,000 for selling the winning ticket. >> they don't cash it, i don't get anything. >> reporter: he's not the only one who could miss out. south carolina would get $61 million as tax on the winning ticket. if nobody comes forward by april 19th, the jackpot will be spread among the 44 states that play based on the number of tickets sold. south carolina would still get $11 million but states like

california, new york, and texas could win much bigger. the clock is ticking with a lot on the line. tammy leitner, nbc news. >> let's start digging through the pockets of the old jeans. see what we come up with. coming up next, the last-minute scramble to find that perfect something for your sweetheart. the south bay..

a police chase involving a ups truck. it )s now stopped and turned ino a standoff on north first street in san jose. we )ll have a live update. next. it's valentine's day. we celebrate and procrastinate, often feeling the pressure to find that perfect gift for those we love. our kevin tibbles is in pursuit. ♪ >> reporter: from a proposal on the ice at 30 rock, to "i dos" in the sky at the empire state building.

l-o-v-e is in the air. heart-shaped treats had them lined out the door at doughnut den. 35% will say it with flowers. 44% will buy a card. 52% of us will buy candy for our valentine. and like every year, procrastinators are a-plenty. >> it's kind of last minute, isn't it? >> it's a little bit. >> what happens if you don't show up with something? >> it will be a quiet night. >> reporter: for nearly a century fannie mae chocolates has seen that last-minute look of panic. don't you love watching men dinner reseations, forget about it at chicago's bistro-nomic. >> i need a table for two. >> i can't. we were overbooked two months ago. >> it's digiorno in the doghouse for me. >> happy valentine's day. that's "nbc nightly news."

i'm lesterwe )re following bre: a chase involving a u-p-s truck in san jose has now turned into a right now at 6:00. we're following breaking news. a chase involving a ups truck in san jose. now has turned into an armed stand off. right in the city streets. we are live with the latest. >> the news starts now. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> this is turned into a tense situation. and the stand off involving several people as far as we can see. we have been tracking this breaking news on air and online for the past 40 minutes. let's get you caught up. a live look from the sky ranger in north san jose. north first street. actually a couple blocks away from the studio. this is north first street. and trimable. a ups truck and behind that truck about ten to 15 san jose

police cars and sheriffs. behind that truck. inside the truck is a ups driver from what we can see. also a man with a shotgun. this happened around 5:15 the chase started. this came to a close. an end here in terms of the truck stop around 5:30. and ever since that point for the last 30 minutes this is what we have been seeing. all the police officers and sheriffs behind the ups truck in a stand off with the driver and someone else inside. >> initially we saw the ups truck going down first street really fast and a spike strip hit one. got a flat tire. that's how it stopped. then we saw this video of the what a